Guest blog: Jenny Gardiner

I'm so excited today because we've got a guest blogger, Jenny Gardiner. She's a fellow GCCer, but that's not why I'm totally excited-- Jenny is pioneering a new front on the publishing scene. Her latest novel, SLIM TO NONE, will only be released on Amazon Kindle! That's right, you heard correctly: it will not be published on paper! Only digital, baby!



Pretty cool, huh?! It definitely begs the question: is this where publishing is going? I don't know the answer, but let's hear from Jenny! So, without further ado, I give you Jenny Gardiner!

Shortly after I received my Kindle e-reader for my birthday a few months ago, I was reading in bed at midnight, not loving the book I had downloaded, but wanting to continue to read something. So with the magic of my electronic reader, in two minutes' time, I found another book on Amazon, downloaded the thing, and had begun reading it. How cool is that?

Dramatic changes have been underway in the publishing industry in recent years—changes that--combined with a faltering economy--have left traditional publishing in a bit of a tailspin. While the cumbersome infrastructure of the publishing industry is perhaps not quite nimble enough to as easily embrace and adapt to these changes, authors are on their own figuring out how they can achieve their end goal--to reach readers hungry for their work.

I've been fortunate to be teamed up with a literary agent—the wonderful Holly Root—whose agency (The Waxman Agency) is an innovator and has undertaken a bold new program of offering up high-quality books to the reading public via a digital imprint called Diversion Books.

I jumped at the chance to be part of this program because in many ways I am a convert to e-reading and I believe that society is on the cusp of a major shift in how people read books. I've always felt badly that there is a tremendous amount of paper waste with books—that books that don't sell get sent back to the publishers and ultimately destroyed. And as one who has on many occasions found at least three books lurking in the bowels of her purse (which gets heavy!), I love having all of my reading neatly compiled into one small, lightweight and very portable device. And strangely I find I can focus more readily when reading in a public place with an e-reader. Go figure.

I think that as competition increases with the introduction of new e-readers, and prices come down in the near future, soon electronic readers like the Kindle, the Nook, the Sony Reader and the iPad (of which 1 million units were sold in 28 days) will become as commonplace as cell phones (with smart phones already an e-reading option for many).

Are e-books the perfect solution? Not at all. I hate the idea that e-books contribute to marginalizing wonderful independent book stores, and hope that somehow some of the talk—of e-book downloads being available at stores, perhaps, will help to mitigate that. And I hate to sit back and watch layoffs and consolidation in the publishing industry, as really good people, fabulous editors, publicists and artists are squeezed out as the business changes. The music industry experienced these same sea changes and frankly nothing about it is easy. But as the mainstream industry goes more and more toward sure-bet books to the exclusion of the vast mid-list, which is really like the middle class of the writing world, more authors will by necessity seek alternatives to continue to pursue their passion and to reach their readers.

I decided to publish digitally with Diversion Books rather than cold turkey on my own because, alas, I am such a Luddite. Well, not fully. But I am technologically stunted and I don't have the time in my life right now to figure out how to do this on my own, and I am happy to be able to work with such wonderful professionals to collaborate on an end-result we can all be proud of. It's early enough that I can't tell you how the outcome will be, but so far so good and I really just hope I can get the word out to enough e-readers about the book—I do find that those who are early adapters with e-readers are enthusiastic to buy books, which is a good thing for everyone in a market in which so few books are being purchased. And I hope that my readers will be able to access this book.

Of course tangible paper books aren't going to go away, but the convenience of downloading books and carrying literally hundreds of them in such compact form is awfully hard to beat. And I'm thrilled to be at the forefront of such exciting innovations and to be able to offer up a book that I absolutely love and think that you will too.

Many of you may know me as a novelist who was able to successfully market my way into a publishing contract with my first novel, SLEEPING WITH WARD CLEAVER, which was the winner of Dorchester Publishing's American Title III contest a few years ago. Back then I sort of stumbled into the frontier of capitalizing on what would soon become the most comprehensive way to market and publicize books—via networking on the internet.

Since that time, the industry has shifted in none-too-subtle ways as the internet has become an integral part of the publishing picture. So much so that e-publishing, which used to be considered an unconventional means of publication, is clearly being viewed now as the wave of the future. The future is already upon us, and I hope that you will join me in this brave new "frontier" and check out my debut e-novel, SLIM TO NONE, in which Abby Jennings, Manhattan's premier food critic, is outed on Page Six of the New York Post, and to her chagrin she realizes she's too recognizably fat to now remain incognito in her job. Her editor gives her six months to shape up or ship out, and so this ultimate foodie--a woman who is paid to eat for a living--must vastly curtail her eating in order to continue being able to make a living.

SLIM TO NONE is a story near and dear to my heart. Like probably every female out there with a heartbeat and a stomach pooch, I have been on the dieting treadmill since I was oh, born. Well, wait, I guess after I started walking. It was then that I knew I needed to stop cramming down the Froot Loops my mother kept insisting was the only thing I would eat, and instead turn to steel-cut oats direct from Ireland for the best proper nutrition.

Alas, Froot Loops won the day, over and over again. In what seems like an omnipresent dietary smackdown between Brussels sprouts and Fluffernutter sandwiches, the latter prevails every time. And with that has been the roller coaster of dieting and hating to diet and then never having pants that fit and a closet full of awesome clothes collecting dust that I really ought to just purge and give to someone thinner and more deserving, but instead I hold out mournful hope that I again will jam my fat ass into a size 6 pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans (yes, friends, it has been that long).

With that albatross secured snugly around my neck, I decided to tackle the ups and downs of this way of life in a novel—and decided upon a foodie for whom food had to become the enemy. I loved the idea of taking someone who has to eat for a living then not be able to eat in order to continue to be able to eat for a living. Such a quandary! And then of course I wanted to pile her up with all sorts of issues that she has to overcome.

I hope you'll join Abbie on her journey of self-discovery and while you're at it enjoy many of the yummy recipes you'll find within the pages of SLIM TO NONE.


With a strong yet delightfully vulnerable voice, food critic Abbie Jennings embarks on a soulful journey where her love for banana cream pie and disdain for ill-fitting Spanx clash in hilarious and heartbreaking ways. As her body balloons and her personal life crumbles, Abbie must face the pain and secret fears she’s held inside for far too long. I cheered for her the entire way.
--Beth Hoffman, bestselling author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Satisfying as a Thanksgiving dinner at Mom's. ... Jenny Gardiner's heroine gives us a sarcastic but provocative look at our love-hate relationship with food. You'll eat this up in one sitting
--Ad Hudler, bestselling author of Househusband and Man of the House

"Jenny Gardiner has done it again - this fun, fast-paced book is a great summer read."
--Sarah Pekkanen, author of The Opposite of Me


Thanks so much for stopping by, Jenny! And for those of you who are interested in checking out SLIM TO NONE, click here to read the first chapter!

My secret identity

If the title of this blog post makes you think of Jerry O'Connell, you're not alone.

But today we're talking about a different secret identity! Last week on my blog I introduced you to the talented Megan Crane. She's the one with the secret identity. Okay, well, it's not really quite so secret since we're talking about it here and most of her readers know about it, but.... Well, just go with me here!

Megan writes under her own name, but she also writes under a pseudonym! How cool is that?! Well, I thought it was super cool, so I asked Megan to blog about it!

So, without further ado, let's hear from Megan:

I've always wanted a secret identity.

Who wouldn't? I remember watching Alias and thinking it would be pretty cool to be Sydney Bristow--especially with that yummy Michael Vaughn trailing along with her on her adventures--because taking on all those new identities looked like a blast.

Also, I'm a Gemini, so I guess I was always destined to have an alter-ego.

When I decided to see if I could write a romance novel, I had no idea that anything would come of it. I just knew that romances were my most favorite books in the world. I hoard them. I read my favorites over and over, and can spend whole afternoons in book stores with good romance sections, browsing for new authors to love, cherish, and follow slavishly. Though I'd written for years and sold a few books, I didn't think I could write a romance novel.

They're so *hard,* you see.

Think about it: when you pick up a romance novel and read the back cover, you know at once who the heroine is and who her hero is. Which means you also know that those two will end up together in the end, happily ever after. That's what a romance novel offers: a happy ending, no matter what. So your job as a writer is to tell a story that everyone already knows the ending to, in such a way as to keep the reader entertained, hopefully making them worry and fret and forget to breathe because *how* can it possibly all work out... and then making that happily ever after ending ring true. Pulling that off is the art of the romance novel.

You'll have to tell me if I succeeded!

But when the book was finished and Harlequin actually bought it--the culmination of a life long dream!--it seemed like the perfect opportunity to create a new identity for these books. After all, a Harlequin Presents, so richly layered and emotionally intense and starkly passionate, is a very different sort of book than the others I write. I thought it made sense to make sure up front that no one thought they were getting one form of my writing when they'd be getting the other--and so Caitlin Crews was born.






So far, I quite like her. She hit the USA Today bestseller list with her debut book, has two more set to come out this year (Majesty, Mistress...Missing Heir will be out in May in the UK and October in North America; Katrakis's Last Mistress will be out in September in the UK), and really should be working on her latest one *as we speak.* In comparison, my usual identity feels like a little bit of a slacker.

You can't really ask for more from a not-so-secret identity!


No, you can't! Thanks so much for stopping by, Megan! But wait, there's more! Megan has generously offered to give away a copy of one of her romance novels! Er, one of Caitlin's, I should say. But, anyway, you get the point: a free signed book!! Check back in a few days for deets!!

Guest blog and book giveaway: Sheila Curran

I'm so thrilled today because we've got a guest blog from the fabulous Sheila Curran. And to make things even more wonderful, she'll be giving away a copy of her breakout novel, EVERYONE SHE LOVED. Deets on how to enter are at the bottom of this post.

Take it away, Sheila!

HEY, 99% OF CONTROL FREAKS ARE A CREDIT TO OUR PSYCHOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION

With all the attention on the lab technician who killed poor Annie Le at Yale being a control freak, I have to point out the rest us us are quite harmless. For one thing, without us, THE CONTAINER STORE would be out of business. We keep planes in the air by listening for ‘off’ sounds, provide continuous entertainment for otherwise bored medical personnel, and lower the carbon footprint by only leaving our house when it’s absolutely necessary. (I myself do this only after three or four trips to check that the stove is off, the iron unplugged and the weather channel hasn’t issued a sudden tornado warning for our area.)

In fact, the chronic worrier who is not also a teensy bit of a control freak is:

a) delusional

b) a saint

c) heavily medicated or

d) a figment of her husband’s imagination.

In EVERYONE SHE LOVED, Penelope Cameron makes no bones about her latest anxiety. Nor does she shy away from pressuring her loving husband and best girfriends to relieve her worry through an outlandish and old-fashioned covenant. It’s politically incorrect, a throw-back to the eighteenth century and yet, so intuitively right. As she sees things, the lives of her two daughters hang in the balance and it’s within the powers of her inner circle to protect them. End of story.

Note to self: Death is inevitable. Wicked Stepmothers, not so much.

For the full story of how I got the idea for this novel, you can go to my website and click on Backstory. But the briefer version is this: in some states, if a parent hasn’t named a guardian in an official will, their children can be taken into foster care if the parents die. I was telling my friend Julianna about how difficult it is to make the choice of who, among my siblings and friends, would be the best replacements for my husband and I.

Suddenly, my Inner Cassandra did a double take. “OMG!. You know what would be worse? What if I was the only one that died and John fell in love with someone who was just awful?”

I thought for a minute more and said, “I know. What if he couldn’t remarry unless my sisters and best friends approved?”

I knew, deep down, that whatever happened, as long as my friends and family approved of the new wife, then she’d be good for my kids.

I began to imagine a character like me, except she’s really rich, has had even more reasons in her life to become a bit of a control freak than I, and she is so charming in her ridiculous catastrophizing that her husband and friends finally say, “Enough, already! You’re not going anywhere, but if it makes you feel better, we’ll sign the damn thing.”

So begins the premise for my novel, the plot of which is set into action by my character’s legal codicil. It’s about motherhood, wifehood, childhood, and most of all, the sisterhood of great friends.

Set in a North Florida beach town where Old Money meets the New South, Everyone She Loved is an unconventional mystery built on romantic confusion, financial intrigue, and the unbreakable bonds among women who’ve come of age together only to discover that life’s little instruction book will always need revising.

What they find, as their properous lives are threatened from within and without, is that no woman is island, nor is her fate ever separate from that of everyone she loves.

Sheila Curran lives in Tallahassee, Florida with her husband and two children. Her two novels, Diana Lively is Falling Down and Everyone She Loved employ a narrative structure built on suspense, secrets and intricate plot twists that Jodi Picoult called ‘warm, inventive, funny and original’ and kept Joshilyn Jackson ‘up way past … bedtime, unable to stop turning the pages.”

Thanks so much for stopping by, Sheila! And thanks for giving away a copy of your latest book!

To enter to win a signed copy of EVERYONE SHE LOVED, just leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

The lucky winners will be announced on October 6th.

Guest blog and book giveaway: Lauren Lipton

One of the wonderful things about becoming an author is the chance to meet other authors whose work you really respect. I was so thrilled when I met Lauren Lipton last year at Kristin Harmel's book party. We hit it off, and the rest, as they say, is history. Not only is Lauren a great breakfast companion and email buddy, but, oh yeah, she's also an amazing writer!


Her latest, MATING RITUALS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WASP, is out in bookstores now! It truly is the perfect summer read-- smart, clever and funny. What else could you want in a book?! And we're giving copies away today! Not one, but TWO lucky readers will be getting a copy of Lauren's novel. Deets on how to enter to win are at the bottom of this post.

Lauren's here today to chat about the important issues plaguing women today, and more specifically, women's fiction authors: What to wear....

So without further ado, here's Lauren!

Hi, Brenda, and thanks for the opportunity to guest-blog! I was going to riff for a while here about preppy fashion—a major theme in Mating Rituals of the North American WASP. But as it happens, my random musings have crystallized into a serious question, and the question is this:

What should I wear to my reading?

I thought I'd ask you because of all the reading outfits I've seen, the retro-chic frock you wore to read from Jack With a Twist last summer is hands-down the cutest. I remember it being buttercup-colored to coordinate with your book cover.

The choice was impressive. It has stuck in my mind as I prepare for a reading of WASP later this month.

The problem is, though, that my book is pink and green, and I look hideous in pink and green. In fact, I look hideous in all preppy fashion—the grosgrain, the madras, the seersucker. This is likely because, though I am the daughter of a Rhode Island WASP, my mother ditched her conservative togs the minute I was born and she and my father struck out for Southern California, where everyone was drinking sangria while sporting dresses with airbrushed rainbows and Indian tunics with little round mirrors sewn in. This was the eclectic fashion of my formative years, and though I'm hardly wearing it now, I'm more comfortable in it—or in something black and New Yorkish—than in anything embroidered with tiny ducks.

So my question, to you and your readers, is, how important is it to look the part during a reading? If I wear a WASPy wardrobe, will it look cute, or costumey? Do I go with my slinky vintage black dress (possibly designed by Versace before he was Versace), or do I do Lilly Pulitzer (adorable, but not me)?

Please advise. And you're all invited to my reading, at Barnes & Noble, 82nd and Broadway, on June 17 to see what I chose.

Big thanks to Lauren for stopping by! And now, on to the fun part: the free books! We'll be giving away not one, but TWO copies of Lauren's book.

Since Lauren is in dire need of our help, the contest rules are a bit different this week. You'll have to vote on what Lauren should wear! Leave a comment below with a recommendation on what Lauren should wear and you're entered to win one of TWO copies of MATING RITUALS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WASP!

Want extra entries? That can be arranged.... Blog about this contest for another entry. Or you can send an email to five friends about this giveaway (don't forget to cc me, brenda[at]brendajanowitz[dot]com!) for TWO additional entries! You must put "Brenda's Blog" somewhere in the email subject heading for your entry to count.

The lucky winners will be announced on June 17th, just in time for Lauren's fabulous Barnes and Noble reading!

The mother of all guest blogs and book giveaways: the ladies of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books are here!

Well, yesterday I promised you a real treat, and oh man, how I am delivering today! We're lucky enough to have a guest blog from the lovely ladies over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (oh, and if you're looking for them on the web, please just click on that link. Definitely do NOT be lazy and merely type in "smart bitches" and hope that their site comes up. Let's just say you'll end up on a page that is not approved for viewing at work. Not like I did that or anything....)

First order of business, the hilarious geniuses behind Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, Candy (on the right) and Sarah (top left), are generous enough to be giving away a copy of their latest release, BEYOND HEAVING BOSOMS. Details on how to enter are at the bottom of the post.


But, it gets even better! Sarah and Candy have highly confidential intel for you on the International Consortium of Heroes. But since I don't want to get myself into any messy legal messes, I'll just leave it to the girls to explain....

Thanks to an Anonymous Source, we here at Smart Bitch Central have in our hot little hands the International Consortium of Heroes' Manly Handbook to Heroic Behavior, the official ICH Guidebook for all things manly and heroic. Previously kept secret and circulated only among member heroes, this guide details what it takes to be a romance hero; some of the recommendations are nothing less than shocking. In a series of articles, Smart Bitches are publishing several different portions of the ICH Handbook; our purpose is to shine a light on the monopolistic practices of the ICH and to bring transparency to the hero-making process. None of the text has been edited; omissions are indicated by [. . .].

Introduction

Being a hero is a difficult task in the best of times, and with the increased fragmentation of the romance genre, especially the recent popularity of ménage scenarios, heroism can be more confusing than ever.

The International Consortium of Heroes' Manly Handbook to Heroic Behavior (ICH Handbook) will help provide structure and general behavior guidelines for all levels of heroes, from those embarking on their first romance to the seasoned veterans who could deflower a virgin widow or turn a reluctant heroine into a vampire/werewolf/vampire-werewolf with one arm tied behind their back.

Please note, however, that the ICH Handbook is meant to be a very general guide to behavior for primarily heterosexual hero tropes across all genres; homosexual heroes should still find much of this information applicable, but we strongly recommend consulting the ICH Manly Handbook to Man-on-Man Heroic Behavior. Archetype-specific guidance for both primarily heterosexual and homosexual heroes is available in the individual guides published by the different sections of the ICH.

The ICH also wishes to emphasize that desirable outcomes may be achieved using many different methods, and while our recommendations serve as best management practices, variations are certainly possible—even desirable, given the more idiosyncratic heroines or exotic plotlines.

[. . .]

Non-Sexual Conduct and Experiences

Parents and guardians

Because parental or guardian abuse is one of the main sources of sympathetic hero misbehavior, the majority of heroes suffer from dysfunctional family relations. Subsequent hero isolation perfects and hones this misbehavior, later to be softened, corrected and influenced by the heroine. Popular parent types include the shrewish, man-hating (or excessively man-loving) mother, psychotically abusive guardians of all stripes (ranging from parents to other relatives to legal guardians unrelated to the hero), and rigid, emotionally unavailable fathers who impose impossible standards.

If this is your first time as a hero and you are having difficulty coping with your difficult family relations, please remember that this process is necessary, akin to tempering a sword. Think of it as tempering your temper: sharp, hardened heroes are still by far more popular than the less incendiary type. Unpredictable explosions and moodiness are key to character conflicts in many romances, and while other sources are possible (see the Difficult Exes section below), this is one of the richest veins available.

Should you be interested in difficult parent interactions to enrich your backstory but are at a loss for where to find one, please consult Appendix D, which provides a list of ICH-certified agencies that safely and reliably source horrible parents and guardians. Seeking out freelancers is another option, but the quality of the interactions can be somewhat unreliable; in particular, many of the so-called freelance abusive mothers turn out to be nothing more than somewhat distant at best, instead of demonstrating the cutting, cold mistreatment necessary to instill an instinctive mistrust of other women—a staple of emotional conflict in certain hero archetypes. Caveat emptor, particularly when using sources like Craigslist. Some review websites exist, but the quality and reliability of the rankings can vary wildly. ICH-certified agencies are by far the most reliable sources.

While organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Archetypal Heroes (PETAH) are campaigning heavily to end these sorts of hero mistreatment, the fact remains that bad parenting in general and parental abuse in particular provide too rich a source of internal conflict and character backstory for us to rule out entirely; they are not mandatory by any means. Whether this species of mistreatment suits you is a choice you need to make prior to embarking on your personal journey of sexual, emotional and psychic discovery with the only woman who can make your numbed soul sing.

Please note that certain hero archetypes do not require family dysfunction. In this case, feel free to conduct normal, loving relationships with the parents. There are other vehicles to deliver the desired angst. Such instances include being orphaned under traumatic circumstances, catastrophic losses of other loved ones (including siblings, ex-wives and best friends, preferably under circumstances that implicate your involvement), harrowing previous experiences with love, possessing powers and characteristics that serve to alienate you from normal human society (this applies to the vast majority of heroes in paranormal romances) and taking on morally ambiguous—even morally repugnant—work to serve a greater good. These will all be covered in their own individual sections. Note also that these forces are not mutually exclusive; many heroes can and do undergo multiple species of trauma for greatest angsty effect.

[. . .]

Difficult Exes

Distrust towards love in general and romantic emotional attachments to women in particular is another rich source of conflict for romance novels; resistance to new emotional connections and overcoming your distrust with the right woman is one of the most powerful and reliable ways of generating conflict.

Furthermore, experiencing nothing but bad relationships in the past is another way of underscoring how truly special the heroine is; for the vast majority of heroes, falling in love with the heroine represents an emotional deflowering akin to a heroine's loss of virginity. We therefore recommend that you protect this tender bud of emotional vulnerability well-guarded with a series of emotionally unfulfilling—even psychically damaging, for the more adventurous of you who wish to peg the needle on the angst-meter—relationships. Just remember: physical whoring is not a problem; it is, in fact, recommended for certain hero archetypes. Emotional whoring, on the other hand, is deeply frowned upon; just as the heroine is a whore if she has enjoyed sexual relations with anybody other than you, you, as a hero, are an emotional whore if you fall in love with anybody else other than the heroine.

This distrust is most convincing if it stems from previous romantic ordeals. Therefore, prior to meeting heroines, it is preferable that you seek and entangle yourself with the following types of women:

1. Beautiful, sophisticated and frosty, with lots of (preferably kinky) sexual experience

This type is probably one of the most popular of the Difficult Exes, because not only is she with you solely for your money and/or title and/or prowess in bed, her cool distance, her penchant for schemes and manipulations, and her practiced bedroom tricks serve as a foil to the fresh, undespoiled, emotionally vulnerable heroine. Furthermore, these women are most likely to be unfaithful, and infidelity is one of the greatest and most convincing excuses for assuming other women (especially the heroine) are cheating whores. Combined with the right sort of family dysfunction, the conflict and resulting emotional fallout can be greatly enhanced when she cheats on you with your brother, your best friend or your father. For the greatest dramatic potential possible, selecting a woman with severe family dysfunctions increases the probability of incestuous infidelity, which not only creates a rich source of on-going angst, it provides a neat explanation for her sexually predatory behavior.

Another bonus: these Difficult Exes, while among the most emotionally destructive, are also the hottest in the sack. This is not, of course, an adequate substitute for the wrenching heights of ecstasy you will experience once you engage in the dance as old as time with your heroine, but while you're waiting for her to show up. . . . We're just sayin'.

2. Beautiful and completely unstable

These Difficult Exes present a different source of conflict than the cold, frosty mistress. While these women may, on occasion, manipulate or cheat on you, her greatest power lies in her ability to exhaust your psychic and emotional resources, as well as destroy all certainty in your ability to please a woman or be a good romantic partner. Most of these women show classic signs of severe bipolar or borderline personality disorder; suicide is much more likely in this particular Difficult Heroine than in any of the others. Should she choose this drastic path, crushing guilt and haunted, obsessive convictions that you could have saved her if only you had been good enough are mandatory reactions from you. If you are instead divorced, or if she is only a former mistress or ex-girlfriend, this Difficult Ex type is also the most likely to plot for your heroine's death, or yours—or even both. These murder attempts are rich opportunities for strengthening your bond with the heroine and throwing your love for the heroine into stark relief; any doubts you may have had about the Difficult Ex's emotional instability being your fault should be completely laid to rest at this point, as well as any hesitation or doubts about the depth of your love for the heroine.

3. Beautiful and physically frail

This last type is the quietest and most low-key of the Difficult Exes, but do not underestimate her impact, because this Ex is almost always a Dead Ex. Utilized most frequently in historical romances because the frailty is best exploited under circumstances with inadequate medical care, this Difficult Ex's delicate frame and timid nature most often results in lukewarm, unfulfilling sex. If she becomes pregnant, death by pregnancy or childbirth is typically mandatory, although the death of the child is optional. The only appropriate hero response for this is complete and utter crushing guilt, intensified by the mild relief you feel at the fact that you are no longer tied to somebody you were never truly in love with, anyway. When initially referring to this Difficult Ex, speak of her only in respectful—or even glowing—terms, because the heroine's false feelings of inadequacy will be one of the driving forces of conflict. As time goes on, however, this particular Ex will underscore how the milquetoast nature of the relationship was an unfulfilling shadow of the soaring emotional peaks you have experienced (and will continue to experience) with the heroine.

This Difficult Ex may occasionally prove to be unfaithful, which is perhaps one of the most emotionally devastating betrayals of all the Difficult Exes, because of her seeming virtue. Should this prove to be true, anger is key, but leavening this with a good dash of guilt for not being able to fulfill her needs provides further emotional trauma to fuel the conflict for the romance.

Big thanks to Candy and Sarah for stopping by today! I can't wait to read more from the ICH manual over on their site! Want to win a free signed copy of BEYOND HEAVING BOSOMS? Just leave a comment below and you're entered! Want extra entries? That can be arranged.... Blog about it for another entry. Become of follower of this blog for another entry, too.

The winner will be announced on April 30th.

Guest post and book giveaway: Carleen Brice

I am so, so thrilled today because we've got the wonderful Carleen Brice here for a guest blog. And if you think that's good, just wait-- because it only gets better! Carleen's also been generous enough to agree to do a giveaway of her fabulous debut novel, ORANGE MINT AND HONEY. Deets on how to enter are at the bottom of this post.

So, without further ado, I give you Carleen:


"I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end." – Margaret Thatcher

The good news: My first novel, ORANGE MINT AND HONEY, was optioned by Lifetime Movie Network (LMN)! Yay!

The bad news: Filmmaking takes a looooooooong time. TV moves faster than features (that’s what Lala Land types call movies on the big screen), and God knows, Lifetime is actually clipping right along (there’s a producer and screenwriter on board; script is almost done). But still the process of adaptation requires patience on behalf of the novelist. Something that is so not my strong suit.

Most of my friends thought the option meant I was moving to Hollywood to audition tall, dark & handsome men (even though there are no tall, dark & handsome men in my story). Not exactly.

First of all, Lifetime movies are filmed in Canada.

Second of all, I have no say whatsoever about the film. They could decide that my poignant mother-daughter story would really be better as a buddy picture in outer space. But this is Lifetime so they won’t. Lifetime and poignant mother-daughter stories go together like mashed potatoes and gravy. I’m in good hands.

And third of all, “optioned” doesn’t mean the movie will be made. An option means the network pays a little money up front to hold the rights while they try to put the deal together. In my case, putting the deal together means trying to get some names attached since, ahem, I am not a name. I have a name, and all my life that has been good enough, but not good enough for Hollywood. Nope, for Hollywood you need to be a name.

So there’s a screenwriter and producer working on the film and (I hear) soon a director and maybe even a cast. That’s the point we’ll get the green light (Lala Land for “yep, we’re actually making it.”

And instead of sipping mojitos at the Chateau Marmont with Diablo and friends, having my first novel optioned means I’m still in Denver. In my pajamas. Waiting. Listening to this song over and over.

But like Mrs. Thatcher said, as long as I get my way in the end, I’ll be ok. (Come on Lifetime, give me the green light!)

And, I just remembered! There is one tall, dark & handsome guy in my story! It’s a small role, but maybe the director would like the author’s input….

While she waits for the green light from LMN, Carleen writes to pass the time. Her second novel CHILDREN OF THE WATERS, comes out July 7. It too would make a perfect movie. Hint, hint Hollywood.


Big thanks to Carleen for stopping by today! Want to win a free signed copy of Carleen's book before it hits the screen? Just leave a comment below and you're entered! Want extra entries? That can be arranged.... Blog about it for another entry. Become of follower of this blog for another entry, too. Or you can leave a comment on another one of my blog posts for yet another entry!

The winner will be announced on April 15th.

Be our guest!

Today I'm so thrilled to tell you that I'm the guest blogger over at Drey's Library!  I'm talking all about how I went from lawyer to novelist in three easy steps...  well, sort of!

To hear all about my progression from law to letters, go check it out!

Would your dress like a complimentary beverage?

I'm guest blogging over at Travelogged today, a fun site about all things travel. I'll be talking about wedding dresses and why you might not want to shove yours into an overhead bin....

I hope you'll check it out!

I'm on tour!

Yes, I'm on tour!  All this week!  And I'm so thrilled about it.  

But, I won't be traveling from town to town (sorry, Rock of Love Tour Bus), I'll be all over the internet!  It's my first tour on the fabulous Girlfriends Cyber Circuit for JACK WITH A TWIST! So, be sure to check back here to find out which blogs I'm on each day.  There will even be a bunch of giveaways, so stay tuned!

The fabulous Judi Fennell has already posted our interview, so check it out!  The wonderful Malena Lott's also got the interview up, too, so be sure to visit their sites!

GUEST BLOG: Leslie Lehr on inspiration

What better way to start out the New Year than with a blog post about inspiration! So, I invited a very inspiring woman, award-winning writer, Leslie Lehr, to guest blog all about where she finds inspiration.

Leslie will be back on my blog soon to give away copies of her novel, WIFE GOES ON. But the best things come to those who wait, so we'll be doing that later this month, along with an interview with Leslie. But for now, without further ado, I present to you: Guest blogger Leslie Lehr!

There is nothing more inspiring than real life. That’s why I tell my students (in the Writers Program at UCLA) that the most important thing a writer can do is read, but you also need to put down your books and experience life so that you have something to write about. No need to go bullfighting like Hemingway, but just being aware of the world and the people around you can offer great inspiration. Novel writing is a lot different than nonfiction, when you are essentially researching and reporting on something with a particular point of view – even history books get rewritten when new information comes up or the prevailing point of view has changed. But with fiction, you are responsible for creating an entire world, so every single detail, every word, must work together to create the story and the emotional truth that you want to explore. While life is surely stranger than fiction, I think that’s because it’s more arbitrary, whereas fiction can’t be. Even a short story is intensely precise. And essays are an organized expression of thought – so it’s often the first way I write about a subject makes me angry or confused or thrilled. I have to feel passionate enough to plop my tush in the chair and do this thing that no one may appreciate as much as I do. So when I take on an entire novel, it’s because something has been on my mind so much that I know I can sustain the passion necessary to explore the “what-ifs” of the situation. There a question I want to answer. I feel so lucky to get to do that - to say what I think is important and to have a voice in this world - that I am inspired to work really hard and do the very best I can.

Just as it’s a lot more fun to go to the movies when there is a woman in the story, I enjoy writing about contemporary women because that’s who I am. There is so much to explore in both the dark and the light sides of our culture, so many choices we make as women and as mothers, that my stories usually starts with something personal. Something that bothers me or something that I want. For instance, when I was a struggling young career woman dreaming of the glamorous life, I wrote my first produced screenplay, “Heartless," a romantic thriller about a young woman who becomes dangerously obsessed with the murdered donor. My boyfriend at the time heard I was writing a murder mystery and immediately suggested I make it sort of caper story with a diamond heist. As much as I like diamonds, the identity issue is what made me want to write it as a love story – and it’s been playing in Europe for 6 years now, so I’m glad I stuck with what I wanted to see. Not long after that, married and frustrated at the changes in my life after my first baby was born, I vented in humorous essays that became my first book, Welcome to Club Mom: The End of Life as You Know it. The publisher changed the subtitle to : The Adventure Begins.

A year or so later during a toddler playdate, my former boss’s wife, a pretty model, pointed out my first gray hair. We were standing there on the driveway in my front yard - and I wanted to slap her. The anger stayed with me and I wondered what would happen if I was the kind of person who actually would do that. At the same time, a young, single production assistant kept calling my husband for work or for help with her car, etc. He was gone all hours working on location, so I wondered what that same person would do if she didn’t trust her husband. That inspired my first novel, 66 Laps, which won the Pirates Alley Faulkner Prize.

On the heels of Club Mom, my mother kept wanting to tell her side, so I worked up a proposal and sold Club Grandma, which has had many incarnations and is now excerpted on FisherPrice.com. But it was mostly inspired by money – nonfiction is easier to sell, but it feels a lot like homework. And I did Nesting, a coffee table book about a nursery designer, for the same reason, then the designer on Oprah, so the publicity helped my other projects. By then I had given up on the long hours and travel of the film business completely and committed to redecorating an extra bedroom into an office and was officially a writer. I was teaching and starting to meet other writers, not many of them moms, and it was very frustrating not having housekeeping help like many of the working moms and time to watch Oprah like many of the stay-at-home moms. So, I was invited to vent my frustration for the book Mommy Wars. Katie Couric laughed about it on the Today show, because of the title: “I Hate Everybody.” The real mommy war is in our heads of course; it certainly was in mine. Which brings us back to all the choices we make in life, how each little one impacts the next one, which is what keeps me writing.

In fact, I was working on a literary novel about a Mom who worked in Hollywood trying to protect her daughter in this crazy culture, when I had a long overdue but excruciating divorce and was asked to write about the difficult decision for anthology called The Honeymoon's Over. By the time I turned it in, I had emerged from the darkness into such blinding happiness, that I was inspired to write this novel, Wife Goes On. I found such camaraderie with other single women or women who had been there, that I created the four characters in Wife Goes On and sold it from the outline. I put my other novel aside and wrote as fast as I could and published it in paperback so more women who needed it could afford it. (Plus paperbacks are an easy gift to give to friends who would enjoy it and it’s lighter to carry in your purse.) These characters are all made up, but many of their experiences and all of their emotions are very real. Plus, the sex is good. And the jokes are fun.

Now of course, I’m returning to the literary novel and since my life is different, so is the book. I’ve changed the structure to be less dark, and more of an a detective type mystery where the mom has already lost her daughter and has to find her. Obviously, having two daughters still inspires the question that I want to answer, but the events are not real and the themes are universal to motherhood. I am always very careful to protect everyone who has no choice in the matter. And now that this Wife had gone on, so to speak, I’ve been in a happy relationship for a few years, so I’m inspired to add a stronger romantic subplot. I try not to question inspiration, just to keep my eyes and ears and heart open for the next book. Meanwhile, I enjoy, every little detail that inspires me, from the way the sun shimmers on the ocean, to the blessing of having readers and writers like you, Brenda, who are so committed to the written word. That’s truly inspiring.

Want to win a free copy of Leslie's latest novel, WIFE GOES ON? Check back later this month for a giveaway!

What's in a name?

Naming characters can be an art....  and also a bit complicated.

I've got a fun guest blog posted over at Editor Unleashed, a new writer's website created by the fabulous Maria Schneider.  Go check out the site, check out my post, and enjoy!

The Mystery of Chick Lit

We are so lucky today because we have the fabulous Jason Pinter, the Man in Black, guest blogging for us! For those of you who know his amazing work, you know that he writes mystery thrillers. But a recent conversation we had made us both wonder whether our genres are really that far apart from each other…. So, without further ado, I give you our fabulous guest blog for the day:

The Mystery of Chick Lit
(or, is my book schizophrenic?)

Hey everyone. My name is Jason Pinter, and my debut novel THE MARK just came out this summer. Now when I wrote THE MARK, I conceived of it as a thriller. You know, the kind of book that keeps you turning the pages, makes you sweat, hinges on the relationship between the male and female characters, and keeps you aching for more. No, get your mind out of the gutter, it really is a thriller, honest!

Ok, so maybe I need to look at things from a different perspective. Is there a chance that, in my desire to write a great thriller, I wrote a chick lit novel? Now, my experience with chick lit is kind of limited in the literary sense. Though having been with my wife since college, I’m well-versed in the cinematic realm of chick lit. The movies I’ve seen have ranged from the really good (“Bridget Jones’s Diary”) to the pretty decent (“The Devil Wears Prada”) to the downright unforgiveable (“Little Black Book”). Plus I’ve seen every episode of “Sex and the City.”

Seriously.

So I think I have a good understanding of traditional chick lit themes. Now I know there are many, many variations on these themes, so apologies if my interpretations are, like my reading experience, rather limited. So, inspired by Brenda Janowitz, I’ve decided to break down the main plot threads from THE MARK to see if my book really does fit the chick lit mold…

Here we go:

My hero, Henry Parker, 24, comes to New York from Oregon to take a job as a reporter at a prestigious New York newspaper.(Are there any chick lit books that DON'T feature young characters who work at a newspaper, magazine or publishing house?)

Henry's relationship with his college girlfriend, Mya, is falling apart due to something terrible that happened a few months ago.(Relationship troubles? Uh, ya think?)

Henry’s mentor is a legendary—and legendarily scrabby—older newsman who doesn’t take crap from anybody.(Maybe he was married to Miranda Priestly…)

Henry is accused of murder and must go on the run to prove his innocence.(Hmm…not quite sure if this works. But didn’t Bridget Jones end up in a Turkish prison in her second book?)

Henry meets a young woman who offers to give him a ride out of town, not knowing he’s a fugitive.(Aside from the fugitive part, isn’t this the definition of meeting cute?)Henry finds out that no less than half a dozen different people want him dead.(Main character realizes he/she is desired by several suitors? Hello!!!)

A mysterious black-clad assassin called The Ringer is dispatched to find Henry, retrieve a missing package and then kill him.(A strange man who wears all black? Can you say ‘Tall, dark and mysterious’?)

Consensus: Uh…in my effort to write a page-turning thriller, I just might have written the next GIRLS GUIDE TO HUNTING AND FISHING. I’ll leave it to readers to decide for themselves.

Jason Pinter is the author of THE MARK (Mira). Visit his website at www.jasonpinter.com.

So, I had so much fun guest blogging over at Trashionista that I decided to do it again! Mystery-thiller writer extraordinaire, Jason Pinter, and I will be swapping blogs this week! I'm up on his blog, The Man in Black, today-- I feel just like "Special Guest Star" Heather Locklear when she came to Melrose Place....

On Friday, Jason will be swinging by my blog to show you that serious mystery-thriller writers can be funny, too! So, please go and check out my post and then come back on Friday to see Jason's post. And, of course, don't forget to check out his amazing debut, THE MARK, which James Patterson called "[a] gripping page-turner you won't be able to stop reading."

Be our guest!

I'm so thrilled to announce that I am guest blogging over at Trashionista today!

When they heard about this humilitating event, they thought I might want to blog about it. And, of course, just like any good writer, I figured, why not! Total humilitation, massive blows to the ego.... who wouldn't want to write about that, right?

Anyway, head on over to Trashionista now to check it out!